1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to food preservation systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a food preservation system and includes a multi-phase bacterial inhibition food pad.
2. Description of Related Art
Approaches to food preservation are generally designed to enhance the shelf life of packaged products. Before packaging, most foods contain appreciable levels of moisture and fluids that contain bacteria. These fluids and moisture provide nutrients to create a hospitable environment for further bacterial proliferation, which ultimately results in spoilage indicators such as food discoloration, slime, and/or unpleasant odors.
The type and concentration of bacteria within food packaging may vary, and is often a function of many factors such as processing conditions, type of food, and the initial bacterial load present at packaging. High levels of bacteria reduce the shelf life, affect quality of packaged foods, and may present serious health risks to consumers.
Approaches to increasing shelf life have been largely unsuccessful because they have not completely addressed the many variables required for an effective food preservation system. These factors include, but are not limited to, microbial contamination of food products during processing, external contamination, water contained within the food or “water activity” fluids released from the food and contained within the packaging system, pH, temperature or pressure considerations, and internal gas concentration. Variations in these conditions significantly contribute to decrease food safety and bacterial proliferation.
One approach to controlling bacterial growth has been to deliver components into the food preservation system including individual gases such as O2 and CO2. An example is the Modified Atmospheric Packaging (MAP) technique in which, specific levels of oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, argon and other gases are introduced into the food packaging system. However, without an absorbent pad and an efficient method of balancing and modifying these components, this approach still leaves a need for a versatile system of food preservation because of the difficulty associated with maintaining the created atmosphere. Of particular concern when using elevated levels of CO2, is the observation that CO2 levels gradually diminishes over time as fluids in the food and the food products itself both absorb the gas until the point of saturation. Additionally, package films transmit oxygen, carbon dioxide and other gasses through the film and at times the seal may fail, which leads to gas leakage, and results in a failure to maintain the desired gas concentrations of the original internal modified atmosphere.
These attempts in the prior art to reduce the bacterial population, within food packaging have failed to provide a comprehensive solution. Therefore, there remains a strong need in the art for a versatile system of preservation that effectively reduces bacterial load while maintaining the quality of the food product. The present invention meets this need.